Drive thru slated for Rte. 16 in Holliston

A new drive-thru restaurant could soon pop up along Washington Street, halfway between Holliston and Milford.

Laura Krantz/Daily News staff

A new drive-thru restaurant could soon pop up along Washington Street, halfway between Holliston and Milford.

Brian McCann, of Hill Companies, is planning a 4,600-square-foot one-story building with offices, stores and a drive-thru restaurant, likely a coffee shop.

Engineers tonight will present the plans to the Conservation Commission, which must give the owner permission to build near wetlands on the lot.

McCann on Monday couldn’t say which restaurant might be coming, or whether it will be a chain, because he said he is still negotiating with possible tenants.

"With the soccer fields across the street we just think it makes perfect sense to have an eatery there," he said.

The 3-acre lot is across the street from Weston Pond recreation area and JCL Automotive.

"I think it can be a good thing," said JCL owner John Lovewell, who has worked there for more than 30 years.

Lovewell said the soccer fields draw plenty of visitors on weekends.

Plans for the new building call for 3,000 square feet of office space and 1,600 for the restaurant, which will seat 29. The development will have 30 parking spots, according to drawings submitted to the town planning department by Holliston’s GLM Engineering Consultants.

Town Planner Karen Sherman on Monday pointed to a retaining wall on the map that will separate wetlands from the building’s parking lot.

The lot also has an easement for the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers and is surrounded by several industrial properties.

McCann said Hill Companies held the mortgage for the property under the previous owner, but it was foreclosed upon. It was originally zoned as residential property, he said, but has been changed to allow businesses.

The project also needs Planning Board approval and engineers are scheduled to go before that group on Thursday.

(Laura Krantz can be reached at 508-626-4429 or lkrantz@wickedlocal.com. Follow her on Twitter @laurakrantzmwdn.)